Berry Sweet Bath & Body

I can't believe how far behind I am. But then again, there has been a lot going on lately. Namely, I'm going back to school in the spring!!! So that means that I've been having to try and get everything in order for me to go back to school and trying to find care for kira while I'm in school. Life is crazier than usual.

We have Season's Best at the Neil Blaisdell Exhibition Hall this Halloween weekend. The hours are Friday 5-9, Saturday 9-7 and Sunday 9-4. We'll be in booth #212. When you enter through the main concourse doors, if you veer one row to the left, rather than going straight ahead, you'll find us the second or third "block" in on the left side.

Next weekend we have Diamond Head Arts & Crafts Show. I believe the hours are 9-3pm. We'll be the same place we always are, in booth #145.

We have two more shows after that coming up but I need to confirm what's going on with those first.

Now some of you have been wondering what happened to our website. I decided to take it down for a little while. Its really outdated and I have been horrible with providing hubby with new photos and content SO I decided to take it down temporarily until I figure out what to do with it. For those of you trying to get in touch, please email me at berrysweetbath@gmail.com.

Okay, so what do we have ready to go for the weekend? I have the usual assortment of items for your viewing and smelling pleasure. As usual though, most of our limited edition items will be offered at the thanksgiving show.

I have been busy making cold-process soap the past couple of weeks and am in the process of cutting them down for curing right now (well, not right this very second - I'm typing!). I can tell you that a lot of your favorites will be back, including satsuma guava, jasmine green tea, lemon drops and fresh mint. A couple of scents that people haven't seen since I closed the shop are fresh roses, lavender, and coffee. I also have a few new ones to offer as well. I made every bit of soap that I had supplies for! The bars are cut just a little smaller than before but I think it makes it easier to handle in the shower and hubby says that it tends to be used up more efficiently.

Foaming hand cleansers will be ready as well for this weekend, which is a good thing as flu season is almost here! We will also have our organic waterless hand cleaning gel, which is just as awesome, too.

Lip Balms and cuticle balms are already made, along with our lip scrubs (now made with organic sugar). Lip scrubs, I have a couple of new flavors for you to try! We have strawberry kiwi, melon mambo and well, I haven't figured out what to name the last one but its passionfruit with a hint of red roses. Sounds a little odd but its totally delicious! I treated myself to a lip scrub treatment using some left over yummy chocolate scrub and it was heavenly! Couldn't stop licking my lips for at least an hour after.

Shampoo bars, I'm still working on!

Cupcake soaps? They're coming soon, too!

Cupcake Bubble Bath bombs? I should have some by thanksgiving weekend.

Reed Diffusers? The bottles finally landed and I'm going to start working on them soon.

Did I say I was behind? I mean I'm REALLY behind so I'd better get going!

Take care and feel free to email of you need anything.

carri

Hi everyone!

We have less than a month to go until our season officially starts and I can't seem to get off my duff right now.

for those of you looking for our products, the Menehune Mac holiday store will be opening at the end of this week at the Ala Moana shopping center, mall level, next to the Neiman Marcus entrance. I still have no idea what we're going to send to them for their opening but they will have a decent selection of our products. They will get more variety as we go on with our own production.

So for right now, its looking like...

October 30-November 1 - Season's Best Craft & Gift Show at the Neil Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. Hours are friday 4-9pm, saturday 9am-7pm and sunday 9am to 4pm.

Sunday, November 8 - Diamond Head Arts & Crafts Fair at Kapiolani Community College, parking lot A. I believe the hours are 9am-2pm.

Thanksgiving Weekend - Islandwide Craft & Food Expo at the Neil Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. the hours are Friday 5-10pm, saturday 10am-10pm and sunday 10am-5pm.

Saturday, December 5 - Berry Sweet Holiday Show at Waialae School (in either the cafeteria or library, depends on who's joining us) from 8:30am to 2pm.

I'll update with what I've got as I complete each line. Good news - I have the components to blend our jasmine green tea fragrance again! So many of you were asking for it at Made in Hawai'i.

Okay, I think that's it for now.

carri

Now that I've had a little time to breathe and take stock of things it appears that...

1. many of you liked our new fragrance line up, in particular the melon mambo.

2. roll on perfumes are a hit provided that I merchandise them correctly.

3. most of you actually do want our shower gels, liquid shampoos and hand soaps

4. our customers still can't get enough of our lip balm and cuticle balms.

5. your willing to give lip scrubs a shot.

Needless to say that I am astounded.



Comments about our products that were overheard about us or told directly to us...

overheard:

1. our product doesn't look "hawaiian" enough (I rolled my eyes at that one!)

2. we're like the hawaii version of victoria's secret (yes!)

3. where's the shampoo bars? (long convoluted story...)

told directly to us:

1. where's the shampoo bars?

2. crazy lil flowers smells like that great italian scent that they use to fragrance the lobby of the venetian hotel (was not inspired by it and this was completely coincidental as I haven't been to the venetian hotel in almost 5 years - which reminds me, I need a vacation!).

3. everything is so nicely packaged (thank you!)


Something tells me that I'm going to be busy still...

Just a quick note to say thank you for making made in hawai'i 2009 an astounding success! Even in this economy, so many of you came out to support us and other local businesses and according to the show promoters, this year has been a record year by far.

Our next show is the end of October. I'll post more as I know what's up. Right now, I need to relax and unwind a bit...

If you need anything or forgot to grab anything at the show, please feel free to email with your requests and I'll do the best I can to get things to you.

until the Made In Hawaii festival! Argh, where is the time going?

Anyway, for those of you who've been emailing me asking what I'm going to have available, this is what I've got so far. Some of our newer items, I'm just going to leave out as a surprise you...

Our six featured fragrances this year are satsuma guava, summer love, jasmine green tea, crazy lil flowers, melon mambo and yuzu vanilla. The descriptions for each of these should be on previous posts. However, their breakdown goes like this: purely fruity scents - satsuma guava and melon mambo, fruity & floral combination - summer love, clean scent - jasmine green tea, floral scent - crazy lil flowers, aromatherapy-style scent - yuzu vanilla.

Okay lets, see... I have...

Car & Room Fresheners available in satsuma guava, ume blossom, sweet lavender, jasmine green tea, white tea & ginger, lemon drops, fresh breeze, summer love, crazy lil flowers, and raspberry vanilla.

Large Paper Sachets in satsuma guava, summer love, jasmine green tea, melon mambo, crazy lil flowers, yuzu vanilla, sweet lavender and poshie.

Boo Boo Balm in tubes, 1/2-ounce pots and 1/3-ounce pots

Cuticle Balm in satsuma guava, summer love, jasmine green tea, melon mambo, crazy lil flowers and yuzu vanilla.

Solid Perfumes in 11 fragrances and this is the last year the solid perfumes will be in these cute compacts. I pour the last of the compacts and have been unable to find more so next year, they will probably be different.

Roll On Perfumes in 9 fragrances and an adorable new box!

New Mini Bath Time Sampler set - I only have 46 of these and they're at a great price!

Sugar Lip Scrubs - now made with organic sugar in six new dessert-inspired flavors.

Lip Kits - yes, these will be making an appearance if we can get them done in time. I've paired our new lip scrub flavors with different lip balm flavors so when you layer them together, you get a totally different effect. Example? Lemon cupcake lip scrub with crunchy toffee lip balm gives you lemon crunch cake - yummy! We have a total of 7 different sets to choose from. These are limited, too, as we're only releasing 25 of each during this show.

Body Mist - available in 4-ounce and 1-ounce bottles in satsuma guava, summer love, jasmine green tea, melon mambo, crazy lil flowers, and yuzu vanilla.

Escape pods - a slightly different set. For those of you that may be unfamiliar with the escape pods, these little sets are in a re-sealable zip top bag and contain a travel size (and now refillable) body mist, mini souffle pod (and I do mean "mini"), a 5 gram jar of lip scrub and full sized tubes of our mango butter lip balm and cuticle balm. Available in satsuma guava, summer love, jasmine green tea, melon mambo, crazy lil flowers and yuzu vanilla. We are only going to have 25 of each fragrance available for this show.

Loofah Soaps - I know its been a while since I've done these but they are back!!! So many of you were disappointed that I didn't do them last year, and here they are. Available in satsuma guava, summer love, jasmine green tea, melon mambo, crazy lil flowers, yuzu vanilla, and pineapple.

Mango Butter Lip Balm - mint chip, creamsicle, crunchy toffee, piece 'o cake, satsuma guava, guava passion, gummi bears, red velvet cupcake, lemon cupcake, cucumber melon, black tea, berry bliss, rootbeer float, fruit cocktail, raspberry lemonade, mojito, lavender vanilla

Drawer Sachets - these sold like crazy last year so here they are again - lavender, fresh roses and yuzu vanilla. I believe I only have 24 of each available for sale.

Waterless Hand Sanitizer - a new organic formula in a new bottle. as much as we loved our little malibu bottles, even after years of using them, trying to get more bottle stock was proving to be a challenge. we moved over to our standard squeezie bottle and since we lowered the cost on the bottle, we are able to sell them at last year's pricing instead of taking a price increase. Available in satsuma guava, summer love, jasmine green tea, melon mambo, crazy lil flowers and yuzu vanilla.

Candles - yes, I've made candles. don't get too excited, this is a one-time deal. we have two sizes available, a triple-wick 5-ounce candle in a tin and a 1.2-ounce candle in a tin. Both are excellent sizes to travel with.

Reed Diffusers - I have only 48 available for this show in 4 fragrances. new packaging, new bottles, new everything. you're gonna have to wait and see what scents they are.

I'm working on a couple of other things so you're gonna have to be patient and wait for the show.

Made in Hawai'i details. We are in booth #414 in the ARENA. We are located down the main isle, on the corner of the first "intersection." The hours are Friday, August 21, from 10am-9pm, Saturday from 10am to 10pm and Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Admission is $3 each, I'm sure children under a certain age are free, too, but I don't know where the age limit is. If things are the same as last year, First Hawaiian Bank has discount coupons for the admission fee available at all their branches.

Those of you who wish to place special orders, may do so by emailing me with your requests. You do need to tell me when you're picking it up as with the limited booth space I will not be bringing these with me on the day its not required (i.e., if you say you'd like to pick up on saturday, I won't have it with me on friday).

I can't believe its been almost three months since I posted last - time really does fly! What have I been doing with all my time? Well, I babysat a little girl in may and june, a playmate for kira. She was cute and fun but well, we're going into july and then august, which means its time to buckle down and start prepping for made in hawaii.

So when not babysitting or taking kira to her classes, I've managed to do some pretty hefty production and blending work. I have poured the last of our solid perfume compacts - I remember telling customers they were limited edition because I only had so many compacts and this year is the last year for them. I'll figure out something new for next year. Roll on perfumes did so well last year that I've at least twice as many for this year.

Boo boo balm in the tubes did not go through a formulation change, however, the ones in the pots have. I've been wanting a softer and creamier feeling balm for the pots and metal tins and that is what we have now. Now they include shea butter in the formulation! the result is a much more luxurious feeling balm that works just as well as the tubed formulation.

As far as blending goes, you'll find a few more new fragrances in the line up this year, too. In addition to the melon mambo, lemon cupcake, lavender vanilla mint and mambo #2, we've also created pink melon, candied sunshine, paper flowers, sakura dreams, yuzu vanilla and crazy lil flowers. I opened the concentrated bottle of sweet nothings recently and was absolutely hypnotized by how much more complex and sultry the fragrance has become since I first created the blend last november.

pink melon is a playful combination of a lot of fragrance components, including watermelon, gardenia, jasmine, pink grapefruit, guava, pomegranates, raspberries, vanilla, pineapple and cherry blossoms. Not in that order, of course, and it does sound complicated (and it was!) but the result was well worth it. we ended up with an incredibly light and playful scent with fruity top notes, an airy floral heart and a warm base of vanilla with a touch of amber. available in solid and roll on perfumes - for now.

candied sunshine just makes me happy by smelling it! I wanted to name it something like "happy" or "be happy," but I could just imagine the C&D letter I'd get from clinique or whoever tm'd that name. We even contemplated something like "you steal my sunshine" but hubby said the song wasn't popular (you mean it was the title of a song?!) or "sunshine in a bottle" but again, trying to name a scent at 1am really does a number on your creativity, so "candied sunshine" it was! top notes include sparkling pink grapefruit, soft pomegranates, juicy guava with a touch of sugared flowers and gardenia. available in solid and roll on perfumes.

paper flowers was a real challenge. something soft, floral with a touch of fruit. beautiful and delicately conservative, this blend enjoys notes of rice flowers, lychee, tiare, pineapple, cherry blossoms, and pomegranate. interestingly enough, its the cherry blossoms that anchor the drydown on this one. top notes of sweet lychee with hints of juicy pineapple are rounded out by a soft pomegranate, lead to a soft floral heart of rice flowers and tiare. the base note of cherry blossom makes this one unique and beautiful! available in solid and roll on perfumes - for now.

sakura dreams was a fun one, too! I didn't think too much of it when I first created the blend but by the time I was ready to start pouring the solid perfumes, I realized that this one was really pretty! delicate cherry blossoms are livened up with with a combination of fruits and given a heart of gardenia. a definite must smell, in my opinion! available in solid perfume only (I didn't fully appreciate it when I had poured the roll ons - oops!).

yuzu vanilla was created on a whim, at around 2am, while pouring the other solid perfumes. Inspired by the memory of another perfume that was created with grapefruit and vanilla notes. The citrus top notes are rounded out by heady fresh vanilla and a touch of bergamot essential oil. This is another scent that never fails to bring a smile to my face when I take a sniff. available only as a solid perfumes.

crazy lil flowers was based on our kudzu & ginger fragrance that debuted last year, however, I brought the sweetness down a little. primary notes are still the beautiful and airy white ginger, and the sweet heady kudzu blossoms, however, there's just a little more jasmine to round things out. give it a whirl this year! available in solid and roll on perfumes.

so that's pretty much it for the new scents that I've blended for the year.

lip scrubs are also getting a make-over. I'm changing up the flavors for this year, going with a more dessert themed approach. and yes, we will have our lip kits available this year!

I think that's it for now! I will post more once I know what I'm going to produce and also when I get confirmation as to our booth assignment for made in hawaii.

as always, if there's anything you need in the meantime, feel free to email me through the website!

I hate to admit this, but with everything going on over here, I almost forgot about this one...

We'll be at the Islandwide Spring Craft, Gift & Food Expo at the Neil Blaisdell Exhibition Hall in booth #508 and possibly #507. The hours are friday from 5pm to 10pm, saturday from 10am to 9pm and sunday from 10am to 5pm.

For those of you who've been emailing me with your requests, please check your mailboxes for my replies. Pick up is available at the show, just let me know when you're coming.

I understand many of you are waiting for our etsy store to be open. We sincerely apologize about the delay - we've been buried under family matters and will work on it this coming month.

Otherwise, I've been blending more fragrances and I have to tell you that I'm pretty proud of our most recent one - Mambo No. 2. Hubby said its too much of and inside joke but I still think its appropriate so that's what it is. Its a spin off of our new melon mambo scent so its almost like melon mambo version 1.5. I can't remember if I've already blogged about the other three new scents that I've blended so I might as well go into all of them:

Melon Mambo - I was looking for a mixed melon and citrus kind of scent. I'm sick to death of cucumber melon almost to the point where I turn a little green behind the gills whenever I smell it. So, instead of letting a good scent go unused and unloved, I decided to blend it. As a result, Melon Mambo does have a base of cucumber melon, and it also has notes of watermelon and citrusy starfruit. The result is a soft and intriguingly playful scent. Originally blended for our puppy line but we'll see.

Lemon Cupcake - a sweet and fresh blend of angel food cake, luscious, sweet and creamy lemon curd and for good measure a touch of lavender and vanilla. Lavender and vanilla, you say? Yes, I was surprised at how the addition of those two little essential oils could make this already great scent combination any better. Sometimes, it pays to keep looking around! This was also originally blended for our puppy line BUT how sassy would that be to go around smelling like a luscious lemon cupcake?

Lavender Mint - this was definitely blended for our puppy line. Its a combination of lavender, vanilla and peppermint essential oils. Seems to be a hit or miss with the testers but I still like it. I think I'm going to tone down the peppermint a little bit, though. I think if I still like it, I may put it in a shampoo bar this winter season.

Mambo No. 2 - I really wanted to put a feminine twist to melon mambo. While I thought it would be perky as a perfume, I just didn't think that it had that "something" about it that would make it "wow." So, I toned down the cucumber and honeydew melon base a bit, kept the watermelon and startfruit at around the same levels, and added hints of sweet pineapple and soft rice flowers. Now, we're cooking with gas! The rice flowers add a soft, powdery floral sweetness to the blend and the pineapple acts to tame the tangy starfruit. I think if you like our fragrances like summer love, you might want to give this one a try soon.

If you'd like to sniff our newest fragrances, I will have them with me this weekend. Production will start on them for the Made in Hawai'i Festival in August.

Okay, I think that's it for now! Hope to see some of you this weekend!

Okay, after many moons of thinking, we've decided to take the plunge! We're going to open a shop on etsy. We are registered under our old name of berrysweetdesigns as berry sweet was too vague and the name generator wouldn't allow it. Interestingly enough, there's another shop called berrysweetstuff that's selling - you got it - bath and body products so please don't get us mixed up!

Anyway, we're only going to list a couple of items here and there on our shop. This includes some one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces that I've made over the years. For items that you think I probably have but aren't listed on the etsy site, you can always convo or email me and i can put them up for you as a special order so you can purchase in comfort. Via our etsy store, we will be accepting paypal. For all of you who are emailing orders in, you can use paypal as a form of payment as well. I'll tell you all about it when you order.

The bath & body items that are going to be on the site are our cuticle balm in mango tea and wasabi bliss, lip scrub in mojito, green tea smoothie and brown sugar, lip balm in 6-7 flavors, 4oz body mist in jasmine green tea, mango tea, summer love, sweet lavender and wasabi bliss. Many of you know that I have so much more, so please, just ask! We don't want to show too much to the outside world just yet.

For our current inventory, we have avaiable:

-4oz and 1oz body mist in jasmine green tea, mango tea, summer love, sweet lavender and wasabi bliss
-boo boo balm in twist up tubes or 1/2oz tins
-lip scrub in mojito, green tea smoothie, pearberry, strawberry lime, brown sugar, and vanilla latte
-mango butter lip balm in about 24 different flavors
-solid perfume compact in summer love, kiele kai, wasabi bliss, jasmine green tea, sweet lavender, poshie, kudzu & ginger and mango tea.
-shampoo bars in juicy pear, summer love, and island girl. I think I also have some starfruit but don't quote me on that one.
-handmade soaps in mango tea, satsuma guava and jasmine green tea
-travel massage bars in starfruit, summer love, sweet lavender and eucalyptus spearmint
-cuticle balm in wasabi bliss and mango tea
-1oz waterless hand sanitizer in satsuma guava, mango tea and holiday berry
-deluxe travel sets in jasmine green tea, mango tea, summer love, sweet lavender and wasabi bliss.
-takeout box gift sets in jasmine green tea, mango tea, satsuma guava, summer love, sweet lavender and wasabi bliss
-our medium oval sampler buckets in jasmine green tea, mango tea, satsuma guava, summer love, sweet lavender and wasabi bliss.
-hot cocoa bubble bath in individual packets or sets of 4

Items that can be made upon request:
-8oz sugar shower gel
-8.5oz body souffle
-12oz room & linen spray
-8oz conditioning shampoo
-small & medium reed diffuser sets
-reed diffuser refills

Items to look out for:
In honor of our new puppy, sadie, we've re-released our pet line. I have mixed three new scents to go with it, but one of them smells so good that I think it may cross over into the human product side. Then again, our "pet" stuff is so mild that people can use them, too! I know I have. BTW, sadie is our new puppy, we've had her for just over a month now. Yes, it is like having two kids in the house. Sadie is a tibetan spaniel and currently weighs in at 6 pounds.

On that note, Kira is doing well. She'll be 18 months on saturday. Hard to believe that a year ago, she was beginning to crawl her way around the store! My how time flies. Sadly, she won't be making many appearances this year at the shows. She's in that difficult to control period and for her own safety (and ours!), we've decided to keep her home or at grandma and grandpas this year.

I am going crazy blending new scents! So far, I've created three new ones with more to come. Roll on perfumes are definitely going to be back with all of our special touches. I do promise to make more summer love, love and holiday berry ones this year, too!

All the old favorites will be back in stock in time for made in hawaii in august. We are doing the islandwide during the first weekend in may at the blaisdell. We might do okinawan the last saturday in April BUT we'll see.

Okay, that's enough rambling for now. Mommy duties call - kira's got class in 20 minutes!

If you need anything, just email me through our website at www.berry-sweet.com!

A belated Happy New Year to all of you out there!

Sorry to be so absent lately but things have been a little crazy on this end.

I want to say thank you to all of you for standing by us through a very crazy year. Thank you for all of your words of support when I decided to make motherhood my priority and thank you for your continued support when you trekked out to the various craft shows to come and find us. I can't tell you how much all of that has meant to me and my family. Its truly amazing that in this time of crunched finances, many of you chose us to spend your precious dollars with. My gratitude and appreciation is unending.

2008 has come and gone and it was one crazy ride. A quick little recap for all of us. We closed the store in april because the demands of being a parent and trying to balance and grow a business proved to be a challenge I wasn't doing so well at. It seemed more often than not that while paying attention to one, the other suffered so I made a choice and closed the store. It was rough for a couple of months. I viewed closing the store as a failure on my behalf for a while but have eventually come to see it the way my husband and family had seen it all along - a good strategic step in the right direction.

I still miss it in many ways. I still get a little pang of sadness when I drive by the old shop. BUT I don't miss looking for parking or trying to figure out how I'm going to take care of kira and pour a thousand tubes of lip balm.

We changed the way we do business to suit our new lifestyle (being parents!) and in many ways this is so much better. Yes, I do miss the consistent flow of income that the store brought to us but that just means that I need to learn to budget a little better. So we're continuing to do craft shows and wholesale orders. To contact us, emailing us through our website is best over calling. I can't always get to the phone or answering machine but emails go directly to my phone and I can usually send a quick response within a few minutes of receiving it.

With the changes in how we do business has come many positive things. I can eliminate products that don't move so well and concentrate on those that do. I've been able to create new scents and bring them to the market faster than before. I have been able to experiment more with new ideas like our solid perfume and roll on perfumes. On a personal level, being a work-from-home mommy has brought us a happy, intelligent and inquisitive little girl who loves collecting rocks, dancing and running. My work day has changed from 11am to 4pm to 9pm-3am, but well, that's life!

Last year was a re-evaluate and get-stable-first-before-trying-to-expand year. Now, I think I've got my bearings about me a little more clearly. A plan is coming into view for 2009...

We are going to start our year off with the islandwide spring show in the beginning of may. Then, we're going to do made in hawaii in august, season's best in october, diamond head arts & craft show and the islandwide craft & food expo in november. We will end our year with a private show in the beginning of december. Unless something comes up (like another baby?), this is what we're looking at this year.

I think that we will stick to our existing fragrance line up - jasmine green tea, mango tea, satsuma guava, summer love, sweet lavender and wasabi bliss for another year. Wasabi bliss is on the board to be re-blended and re-released under its new name, wasabi blossom. It will be a very clean and refreshing unisex floral, similar to jasmine green tea but more lemony and less green. Sweet lavender and mango tea haven't been performing as well as before BUT they are consistent so they get a reprieve.

I was surprised at how well roll on perfume did last year so I've brought in twice as many bottles and plan starting their production earlier. I'll keep doing solid perfumes as long as I've got those compacts. I'm discovering that I'm really loving blending and making perfumes.

We are discontinuing our sprayable lotion. I thought it a great product but many seem to find it too unusual. Our sweet escape pods will be one product down this year.

There are a couple of other ideas I'm toying with and I'll tell you more about them later.

So, what have I been up to in the past month?

Well, Kira is now 16 months old. We're still doing gymboree. We're also looking at dance class and/or gymnastics for her in a couple of months as well as swimming lessons. Sounds ambitious but it really isn't. She's a rough-and-tumble kind of little girl who loves dancing and music. She loves the zoo and the seals at sea life park. I've just introduced her to fingerpaints which she absolutely loves!

I have also taught myself to knit (with Sandy looking over my work periodically, telling me what I need to work on as far as technique). I am currently working on a blanket for kira. Nothing too ambitious, just knit and purl stitches only. I swear I can crochet faster than I can knit. I also want to try doll making next.

I am also working on little hair clippies for her and if they are super cute, I may be making more to sell this year.

What about jewelry? Well, I still have so many design ideas stuck in my head and no real time to work on it. I miss it and still want to get it done so we'll see what we end up with this year. I do know that my designs are reflecting the way my life is going - more and more simplified, streamlined and easy-to-wear. Easy-to-wear meaning, you can wear it with almost anything and it looks great. I really want to focus on earrings and necklaces again. I find myself moving away from traditional sterling silver chains and looking to more organic materials like woven cotton cords. I still want to get my mommy and me lines done.

A couple of friends have also been suggesting I write a book about the whole pregnancy/mommy/marriage thing. They feel I have a lot of funny anecdotes about becoming parents and words of wisdom when it comes to redefining a sense of self once the little one comes along BUT the hoops required for getting published is daunting! In the meantime, I have a little folder on my computer in which I "chapter" when the mood strikes.

My work times have shifted from the day time to 9pm to 3am. My work day starts when kira goes to bed for the night. Hubby works all day so it doesn't feel right making him take care of kira when he gets home so I wait until she's asleep to start working. She wakes up at about 7:30am and hubby takes her for an hour in the morning so I can sleep just a little longer. I make it a point to call it quits at 3am. In preparation for made in hawaii last year, I worked through the night and by the time I got to bed, I had been up for 40 hours. I'm too old to be doing that kind of thing already.

It always feels like there's never enough time to do what I would like to do. I keep reminding myself that kira's only going to be a baby once and there's more than enough time to do all of this when she's a little older. So thank you again for being so patient and supportive about what I can and have been able to do with my limited mommy time.

I'll write again soon!

So we're filling those orders that we've been receiving via email for the past week. Everyone seems to really want our reed diffusers! For anyone who still wants to place an order, provided that its reasonable, there's still time!

We are also in the process of filling custom gift basket and wholesale orders, too. And I thought my production schedule was over for the year. But that's great! Better to be busy than not busy.

I am happy to announce that Noelani Elementary School's Math Club will be joining us tomorrow for their fall fundraiser. They will be selling foaming hand soaps (the main reason why we didn't do them this year - we didn't want to compete with them!) and small paper sachets (the mini versions of the larger paper sachets we had this year). The small paper sachets are a great alternative to our car & room freshener beads, which we are almost completely sold out on (we have literally 12-18 left at best for tomorrow). So for those of you who were looking for our foaming hand soaps or if you know of anyone who is or was looking for them, please let them know about tomorrow! Its a wonderful cause and the kids are ever so enthusiastic and adorable! They did these soaps last year, too, and this year is no different. They did the cost analysis to figure out all their profit margins, did the market research to figure out which scents would be best to go with and with their little hands, made everything. I am ashamed to admit that I've been too busy with our end to help them personally other than instructions and doing the ordering for them but hubby has been around first hand to help them with everything and he said its so cute and they are so excited about tomorrow. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help me make this a good experience for them and come an support our future business leaders.

Okay, so just to recap, we will be at Waialae Elementary School Library tomorrow, december 6th from 9am to 3pm. Waialae Elementary is located between harding and pahoa avenues, between 19th & 20th avenues. The entrance to the library and the parking lot is on harding.

We will have, in addition to our usual offerings, all non-berry sweet made items such as rubber duckies, bath fizzers, bubble bath confetti (including holiday shapes), bath time kits (like the ones sold at waialae school's fund day in april) and handmade cards by jill honda. Our mailing list will be available for anyone who would like to be added and we will even have a little gift with purchase for you (while supplies last, of course), too.

Items we still have available for sale:

handmade soap - jasmine green tea, mango tea and satsuma guava - fresh mint sold out, quantity discount available.

silk & soy shampoo bars - island girl, fresh mint, jasmine green tea, starfruit, juicy pear, summer love - wasabi & applelicious are sold out

travel massage bars - satsuma guava, starfruit, sweet lavender and eucalyptus spearmint, quantity discount available, same as at shows.

sweet escape pods - wasabi bliss and jasmine green tea only, will be at lower price

1oz waterless hand cleansers - all available except satsuma guava

mango butter lip balms

cuticle balm in wasabi bliss only, will be at lower price

lip scrubs - small and large sizes will be available. large size will be at lower price.

soap rose topiaries - small and large in limited quantities

gotta-have-it bucket samplers - jasmine green tea, sweet lavender, wasabi bliss, and mango tea only, new lower price break.

little sampler bucket - all fragrances available, new lower price break.

takeout box sampler - wasabi bliss and mango tea only, will be at lower price.

goodie bags - all fragrances available in limited quantities, including holiday berry, new lower price break.

deluxe travel packs - all fragrances available at new lower price.

small reed diffusers - by special order only

boo boo balm - tubes and pots available in limited quantities

large sachets - chamomile blossom only and in limited quantities

body souffle - 1oz singles in mango tea, summer love and sweet lavender only, souffle trio in "sweet florals" only - 4 total left, has summer love, sweet lavender and jasmine green tea. 8.5oz available by special order only, limited availability.

roll on perfumes - sweet nothings, kudzu & ginger, jasmine green tea and sweet lavender in limited quantities

solid perfume - kiele kai, kudzu & ginger, sweet lavender, jasmine green tea, wasabi bliss, mango tea, and poshie. only selected fragrances will on special pricing, which ones are to be determined.

hot cocoa frothy bubble bath mix - singles and pre-wrapped 4 packs in limited supply

bath fizzers - all available, new lower price

bubble bath confetti - new holiday shapes will be avaiable at new lower price

bathtime kit (includes rubber duck, 3 packs of bubble bath confetti and 3 packs of bath fizzers)

rubber duckies and miscellaneous plush

Okay, I think that's it or at least all I can remember for now! Back to work with me and hopefully we'll see you tomorrow!

carri

Well, we made it past another thanksgiving weekend and another islandwide craft and food expo! I really want to say thank you to all of you who came out and supported us with not only your hard earned money but with your kind words. Thank you especially to those of you who braved the mini-hurricane like weather to be with us on saturday - I have no clue what it was like but I heard it was crazy.

We are having our Berry Sweet Holiday Show this coming saturday, December 6th between 9am and 2pm at Waialae Elementary School. We will be in the library and have made arrangements to have the parking lot open so we don't have to fight for residential parking spaces. Come and join us as we celebrate the end of another holiday season (for us, anyway) with a sale on certain items (non-seasonal items and special orders will not be part of the sale), door prizes, product demonstrations as time permits, and whatever else strikes our fancy. Basically, its an anything goes. Teri will be there in the morning to help us and Jill will be there to sell her handmade cards ad gift tags. And for those of you who have been asking, yes, we will have some of the "not-made-by-carri's-two-hands" items there for sale, too. Oh, and we will also have berry sweet designs jewelry available for sale.

Our paper sachets, car & room fresheners, 8.5oz body souffle, reed diffusers, sugar shower gels, and drawer buds have all sold out. We have limited availability of roll on perfume, solid perfume, 1oz body souffle, sweet escape pods, souffle samplers, body mist samplers, room & linen spray, shampoo bars, handmade soap, gotta-have-it! bucket samplers, and rose topiaries. Manufactured items that will be available for purchase are our bath confetti, bath fizzers, and rubber duckies.

Items that will definitely be on sale are our little sampler buckets - these contain a 2oz bottle of sprayable lotion, a waterless hand cleanser, lip balm, cuticle balm, lip scrub and a rubber duck. I just found a basket full of chamomile blossom scented sachet grains so I'll be putting them into envelopes and marking them for sale. Well, that's just a little teaser for you. You'll find out the rest when you get there.

For any of you who would like to place orders for pick up on the 6th, please feel free to email me through our website at www.berry-sweet.com. We are definitely taking special orders for reed diffusers. Anything else that you are looking for, just ask!

Again, thank you so much for all of your support!

carri

First of all, I really wanted to say thank you for all of your continued support and encouragement!

So...

our roll on perfumes are ready to go. that yet-to-be-named scent has been named! it is now officially known as "sweet nothings," and I cannot stop sniffing that bottle! I wonder if they have a support group for scent addictions. Hhhmmm, maybe sniffer's anonymous. anyway, I have managed to tear my nose away from the bottle long enough to write this post.

as I am becoming more proficient at fragrance blending, I am also becoming profoundly aware of my scent preferences. for example, when I hear the term "oriental" in regards to fragrances, I think of overly cloying fragrances with massive floral notes, sandalwood and/or ambergris bases and an unending desire to grab a bottle of tylenol while running for the hills. I always thought I was a "fruity/floral" or straight "fruity" kinda girl. apparently, not so. while exploring my chosen scent blends, especially the two this past couple of months - kudzu & ginger and sweet nothings - I am forced to face my deepest fear: I love oriental-style fragrances. Okay, for those of you who are scratching their heads and raising an eyebrow at this particular paragraph, I will digress and clarify...

lately, I have become obsessed with fragrance blending. I think since we closed the shop, I've been forced to stare at exactly how many different fragrances we have and well, either boredom or the need to procrastinate further takes over. I open a bottle, feeling that I can improve it and make it "my own." and there it goes from there - kudzu & ginger alone took 12 separate components to create. I see how much many of you enjoy our fragrances and well, its very satisfying and rewarding. I've always loved perfumes and by the way our solid perfumes are selling, apparently, many of you do, too! I still remember how well our roll on perfumes sold last year and this year, the bottles are glass with sweet little beads in them for added enjoyment. In spite of price increases, I am still planning to keep them at last year's prices. I do eventually want to create an eau de toilette line, but well, hubby and I are having discussions on the merits of adding a spray perfume to the line. if you've got an opinion on the matter please say so.

oh, last thing on the roll on perfume, as a last minute addition, I also have holiday berry (raspberries, orange, currant, and white musk) and love (a classic favorite from our signature 8 that I nixed back in april) will be available in limited quantities.

okay, for islandwide next weekend. I am planning to bring full-size product for those of you who've been asking. I am planning on 8.5oz body souffle, 8oz shower gel, 4oz body mist, 8oz hand soap, and 12oz room & linen sprays. if you'd like to preorder, please shoot me an email with your request, name, contact phone number and date you'd like to pick up. Please keep in mind that we're restricting these to our signature six fragrances - satsuma guava, mango tea, sweet lavender, summer love, jasmine green tea and wasabi bliss. you can email me through our website at www.berry-sweet.com.

travel packs are ready to go! this year we have updated our travel packs. we have swapped our our hand & body lotion for our waterless hand cleanser (you still have body souffle as your moisturizer), we still have our sugar shower gel and conditioning shampoo in there as well as our body souffle and mango butter lip balm. the new additions are cuticle balm and lip scrub. the price is going to be $17.50 each (last year it was $15 but we've added $6.50 more in product to our new travel pack so we think its a deal!), and we'll do a special on it for those of you who'd like to purchase some as gifts. Of course, they are still in their cute little zippered pouch.

car & room fresheners. we have some new fragrances for your sampling pleasure - juicy pear, holiday thyme and holiday cheer will be joining the line up. shave ice is making its last debut and once its gone, its gone! I believe tropical island may have sold out at KCC earlier this month.

reed diffusers will be there as well. since small outsells medium by a mile, we've decided to bring only small. medium will be available by special order only. we will be bringing some refills with us since many of you have been asking. we have created a holiday berry reed diffuser in honor of the holiday season and it is limited to 12 diffusers.

I think that's it for now!

carri

So we're right back in the swing of things here. Later on this morning, we have the Diamond Head Arts & Craft Show at Kapiolani Community College. We'll be in booth #145.

We have a few new things coming up in this show. Namely, we have our goodie bags! We did have to remove the hand lotion to keep the price down, but hey, its still an excellent value for the money and an excellent little gift for those that you're not quite sure what to get. They are available in the six signature fragrances (jasmine green tea, mango tea, satsuma guava, summer love, sweet lavender, and wasabi bliss), and just for the holidays, holiday berry has made a re-appearance as well!

Solid perfumes are back in stock. Looking more than adorable in their new compacts and packaging! Very sleek, if I do say so myself, and very classy, too. I couldn't resist, I made 10 fragrances. I know its a lot to choose from but I was having so much fun and just couldn't stop myself. So the fragrances are, in addition to our six signatures, kiele kai, sweet pikake, poshie, and kudzu & ginger. These are limited editions because if I wanted to get these same compacts, I'd have to order about 10-15K of them and hubby would have a kitten over having to store that many of them so needless to say, when they're gone, unless I can aquire only a couple thousand, they will be gone. I'll still find a container for our solid perfumes, but they may not be quite this cute.

Okay, our two new fragrances. What can I say? I got inspired at the 11th hour and started blending again. Kudzu & ginger came about because I wanted to blend a fragrance that, I felt or had hoped, would capture the spirit and light of my little daughter, kira. I wanted something floral, but a sweet and delicate floral, not heavy to daunting. I wanted something a little earthy drydown and maybe just a hint of berries. Well, what I ended up with was absolutely enchanting but the drydown was a little too sensual and, dare I say it, a little too sexy to be named after my 13-month old daughter. So, kudzu & ginger it is. This fragrance has a heart of the sweet kudzu blossom, top notes of luscious fresh white ginger flowers, a hint of blushing jasmine, a touch of black berries and tuberose and a base of vetiver and oakmoss. We introduced this one at the Season's Best show at the end of october with resounding success. Needless to say, I'm very happy about this one and we may even see this one in the line up next year.

The second new fragrance, I haven't named yet. Its a combination of jasmine, earthy brown sugar, a touch of sweet figs, lily of the valley, a hint of plumeria and a little freesia for good luck. Enchanting and alluring, to say the least and it will be available thanksgiving weekend in...

Roll on perfumes! We finally got a hold of some glass roll on perfume bottles. Before you go "Glass???," I just want to say that I've been toting this little sucker around for a month now without any leaks or breakage. Packaged like last year, we are offering seven fragrances for your perfuming pleasure - kudzu & ginger, sweet lavender, summer love, holiday berry (just for the holidays!), jasmine green tea, love, and that yet-to-be-named scent. Oh, did I forget to mention that I put a beautiful combination of glass beads in each bottle, just for your entertainment? They are beginning to look like little works of art in a bottle. I just love looking at them on my work table - its almost a pity to label them and put them in their boxes.

Drawer Buds will be ready at the thanksgiving show as well. Think of our car & room fresheners except miniaturized. They are simply adorable and sold in sets of 3. Each set is boxed in a clear takeout box and tied with a festive ribbon, of course. We have three scents available. Poshie with dried dark pink rose petals, Lavender (not our sweet lavender, but a beautiful lightly herbal lavender) with lavender buds, and chamomile blossom with calendula flower petals. These are of limited quantity as well and we're looking at about 25 of each for the year.

Holiday lip balm flavors are going to be available for sale starting today. We have candy cane, peppermint bark and peppermint frosting. All of them seriously yummy.

Our car & room fresheners. It is with a heavy heart that I say we just bagged the last of our shave ice scented beads. But, on the flip side, we have new ones to entertain you with named "island cutie" and "juicy pear." We will have two holiday scents available soon - holiday thyme and mistletoe. These will be appropriately packaged in holiday themed cello bags.

Soap, glorious soap! After an almost two year hiatus from soap making, I finally did it! We have curing in our workroom, 4 double batches of our cold process soap. We have jasmine green tea, satsuma guava and mango tea. For those of you thrill seekers out there, we also have a fresh mint, created with peppermint essential oil, a touch of menthol, eucalyptus and spearmint. For added zing, I've even thrown in some ground peppermint leaves, which give the soap a leafy green hue. Needless to say, do not use this one on the face! Hubby has been bugging me for months to make a "cooling" soap and well, it does feel pretty brisk and wonderful on those hot muggy days we've been having lately.

Anyway, its just after 1am and I have to be up in five hours to get ready and get to KCC for the craft show. Take care and I hope to see all of you soon!

carri

Well, we made it through Kira's first birthday party and its on to wholesale orders, special orders and prepping for upcoming shows. Funny that I'm busier now that I ever was when I we had the shop.

By the way, for those of you who still don't know - we closed the shop back in April. Surprisingly, we're still getting calls about where the shop is and what our hours are. From what I understand, the shop is now a dance studio.

Okay, here's some updates...

On Saturday, October 4th, Menehune Mac is opening a store full of locally made products at Kahala Mall in the old Blush spot. In addition to their fabulous chocolates (and I really do mean fabulous!), they have all sorts of jerky, seasoning salts, salad dressings, jams, jellies, teas,locally made granola and of course, berry sweet bath & body products. I can tell you that Susan will be carrying our waterless hand cleansers, lip balms, cuticle balms, lip scrubs and travel massage bars. As the month goes on, we'll slowly add more items to her inventory. The idea behind this adorable little shop is to go in and choose items for gifts and gift baskets. I can tell you that Eric and I will probably be there on Saturday, not only to support Susan but to shop! We were in there tonight and we couldn't help checking things out. Menehune Mac will be opening a second holiday store in November at Windward Mall, spot to be announced.

Craft Show Schedule:

October 24-26th, Season's Best Craft & Gift Expo at the Neil Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. I believe friday, the hours are 4-9pm, saturday 9am-7pm and sunday 9am-4pm. We'll be in booth #222.

November 9th, Diamond Head Arts & Crafts Fair at KCC, from 9am to 2pm. We'll be in our usual booth #145 and mom will be in her usual booth #62.

November 28-30, Islandwide Craft Fair at the Neil Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. Friday hours are 5-10pm, Saturday 10am-10pm and Sunday 10am-5pm. We'll be in booths #194 & 195.

December 6th, Berry Sweet Holiday Show at Waialae Elementary School Library from 9am to 3pm. This is a show that we are putting on for our customers and any one else who'd like to check things out. We are inviting a few friends and family members who do crafts to come and join us for this show. Although we think this show is going to be great, please do not wait until the last minute to purchase things from us! We will have the most amount of product in time for the Islandwide show, but keep in mind that we also do the most business at the Islandwide show.

More details will be provided about each of the shows as we get closer and I know what the heck I'm doing. I'm currently buried under wholesale orders, special orders and a toddler who has just reached the "separation anxiety" stage. Kira won't even go to grandma willingly and she's been playing with grandma almost everyday for the last 3 months.

One last thing, and I promise it'll be the only time I'll ever say anything regarding politics in my blog, but I feel so strongly about it that I have to say something:

if you don't want our GET to go up again, if you don't want our property taxes to go up again and if you feel the rail is not going to do enough to alleviate traffic (like ALL of the studies conducted says it won't), DO NOT VOTE FOR MUFI. To fund the rail, our GET will have to go up AGAIN and so will our property taxes, don't let MUFI snow you into thinking the feds are going to help us with funding because its not written in stone, and even then, its probably a small fraction (a lot smaller than he's leading all of us to believe) of the total bill, and since when has a project in Hawai'i been finished on time and within budget?

I can tell you that we moved into our home in 2004 and since then, our property taxes have almost doubled. I am only voting for Kobayashi, not because I think she's less dirty or that she's a better choice, I am voting for her because SHE'S NOT MUFI!!! The project is going to cost around $6 billion, where do you think that money's going to come from? Don't forget that instead of giving us a break in our property taxes, Mufi decided that he's going to use some of our taxpayers money to hold a carnival every year to "give back to the community." I'd rather have that money back in my pocket so I can put it back into the economy as I see fit.

Also, don't forget about how he turned the parade celebrating our local athletes into a "team Mufi" debacle - all I remember was his lackeys wearing "team Mufi" shirts when he was leading the parade. Shouldn't it have been "Team Hawai'i"? Or at the very least "Team Honolulu" if you want to make the argument that the parade was organized the the C&C of Honolulu. Talk about turning something that should have been a proud moment for all of us into a political rally for himself.

Wanna talk about the debate? It showed me how much Mufi and his supporters lacked in class. If nothing else, out of respect for his competition, he should have asked his supporters to let his competitors be heard, it would have been the right thing to do, the honorable thing to do, don't you think? Let's all not forget the Ala Wai clean up, which to date is STILL NOT completed and grossly over budget. What does Mufi have to say about it? Its not his fault. What about the trash issue? Not going to be a problem during his term so he doesn't care.

Oh, and "a man of the people" thing? Don't fool yourself. I don't know about you but my parents couldn't afford to send me to Iolani.

Mufi seems to love pointing fingers in every direction except in his - lack of accountability, lack of integrity, lack of honor and totally out of touch with what the people want. He's counting on our memories being short to get him into office for a second term, don't let that happen. If you agree with me, let your voice be heard and vote AGAINST Mufi.

What a trip this has been! The Made in Hawai'i Festival is going on throughout this weekend at the NBC Exhibition Hall and Arena. We are in the arena, in booths #380 and 381. the hours are friday and saturday 10am to 9pm and sunday 10am to 5pm.

I did manage to finish a lot of the car fresheners in the following fragrances: satsuma guava, shave ice, fresh linen, ume blossom, white tea & ginger, lemon drops, mango tea, summer love, sweet lavender, jasmine green tea, wasabi blossom, plumeria and apricot chamomile.

We also finished the escape pods in the following scents: satsuma guava, wasabi bliss, jasmine green tea, mango tea, summer love, and sweet lavender.

We also have a fairly good variety of sets for you to choose from.

I've also blended some new lip balm flavors, namely, satsuma guava (grapefruit, guava and a little orange), and guava passion. Guava passion is kind of an homage to our favorite childhood drink - POG -.

The solid perfumes are almost done. The shampoo bars have been labeled and ready to sell. Same with the travel massage bar.

I'm sorry to cut this short, I've been up for almost 38 hours now and I can barely keep my eyes open! I'll post more later!

carri

Our huge shipment of supplies from the mainland has finally arrived and we're going full pace (well, as full paced as Kira will let me!). I've just completed almost 2000 tubes of cuticle balm and they're off to mom for labeling and taping.

Now, its on to lip balm. All 3500 tubes of them. Yes, you read correctly - 3500 tubes.

I do have to say that the new travel massage bar tubes are totally adorable. Way cuter than I originally thought they'd be by a mile. Same with the new boo boo balm tins. I finally found a 1/2-ounce metal tin with a threaded lid that didn't require me to buy a few thousand of them. I love it.

I'm especially excited to be releasing some new gift sets. You're just going to have to wait and see.

Sorry to be a brat, but I just wanted to tease all of you with some information about what's been going on here.

See you in a month at the Made in Hawai'i Festival!

carri

Hi everyone! Happy Independence Day! Yes, we're still alive even though it seems we've been quiet.

We've spent the past couple of months trying to sort through all of the store's inventory, trying to figure out what to keep and what to toss, which products to continue making and which to discontinue. All the while, kira is growing up before our very eyes.

We are going to be at the Made in Hawai'i Festival, August 15th-17th in booths #380 &381 in the arena. We decided to go with two booths this year because we really needed the additional space. We're planning to have kira with us more often than not so we needed a space for her to be in and well, after last year, we realized that there just wasn't enough room for all of you to comfortably look around and that kinda hindered a lot of you (and us!)

Okay, so with that in mind, what are we bringing? Almost everything including the kitchen sink! Just kidding - well, kinda. Here's a list:

Lip balms - we've secured a good amount of your favorite flavors so we're off pouring. Can you believe it? In order to make our production schedule of goods, I've had to order in almost 3000 tubes. Yikes!

Cuticle Balms - will be available in 9 fragrances including some of your favorites like wasabi bliss and white tea and ginger.

Lip Scrub - so far, the 8 flavors are still holding strong. this includes the new vanilla latte and green tea smoothie - both I just absolutely love!

Shampoo bars - I've got 12 fragrances on the board to be made including many favorites like summer love, wasabi bliss, satsuma guava and island girl.

Body Souffle - I know at least a good dozen or so of you who would do bad things to my car if I didn't bring these with us.

Drawer & Closet Sachets - I'm making more, I promise and I'm making more than I did last year so hopefully they'll make it past the Diamond Head craft show this year. For those of you who don't know about these, we made our own version of the paper drawer sachet envelopes last year. We made 500 of them in 12 fragrances and although we hardly moved any at the Made in Hawai'i show, we sold ALL of them at the Diamond Head show and many of you we're coming into the store looking for more!

Car & Room Fresheners - these are coming back as well. we're offering quite a few new fragrances including the unusual and alluring ume blossom and the unisex and enchanting white tea & ginger. the usual favorites will be there as well such as satsuma guava, shave ice, lemon drops and sweet lavender. we are heartbroken to announce that one of the fragrance components of the shave ice fragrance has been discontinued by one of our suppliers so until we find a replacement, what we have on hand for shave ice is all we have.

Travel Packs - updated and plentiful! The new travel packs will contain our waterless hand cleanser instead of our hand and body lotion (you have the body souffle as a moisturizer anyway) and we've added in a lip scrub and cuticle balm. The result? More bang for your buck wrapped up in a totally cute bag!

Escape pods - as if we'd ever leave this behind. Wasabi bliss was one of the new fragrances last year and I've got to tell you, I was really surprised that so many of you liked it! This is the one fragrance I've gotten the most calls about and the most requests in ready-to-scent for. Needless to say, we're bringing more this year!

Goodie Bags - they're back! We didn't do many of them last year and so many of you cried. So they're back and in force. I guess I have to get hubby ready - some of you wanted them so badly that he got pushed out of the way more than a couple of times!

Reed Diffusers - we only brought the medium ones with us last year and this year, we're bringing the smaller ones so keep and eye out for these!

The gift sets. Quite a few different varieties in very affordable price ranges. I can assure you, though, all of them are an excellent value for the dollar!


Some items are coming with a new twist. Before it all becomes too confusing, I'll put it in a list format.

Massage bars - I don't know if many of you got to see the new travel massage bars before we closed the retail side, it was in a miniature deodorant tube. I've managed to find an even more compact tube that is even cuter than the old one! I also want to make a bar sampler in a tin but we'll see how far I get.

Solid perfumes are getting a make over as well. I've found these wonderful little compacts that are just so cute and sweet, I had to use them. Solid perfumes seem to be all the rage now days, along with roll-on perfumes. These will be available in 9 fragrances and in a few gift sets.

Our roll on perfumes, which many of you loved but had bottle issues last year, we've redone that, too, moving to glass ones instead. These are the same compact size as last year's version but no more breaking tops, unless you drop them, of course.

Boo boo balm - I've noticed more and more of you preferring pots for home and tubes for purse. I've finally found the kind of metal tins I've always wanted for this product line at a quantity I was willing to deal with so I've ordered them. You'll have to see it to understand my adoration of this little 1/2 ounce tin.


We are going to be offering some new items such as our hot cocoa bubble bath mix. Its not the liquid like last year's one but a powder in an envelope. Its smells so good!!! There's a few more items up my sleeve but well, after the fourth night in a row with less than 4 hours of sleep, I can't seem to think of the other products right now.

With the store closing we've paired down our standard fragrance offerings to 6 instead of 8. We've dropped poshie, ambrosia, breathe and lemon drops and added in wasabi bliss, satsuma guava (to replace ambrosia) and jasmine green tea (to replace poshie). These "discontinued" fragrances will still be making cameo appearances here and there so please don't be too upset and if you really need to get that lemon drops shower gel, I can still make that for you!


Okay, on to the kira update. She's doing well. Her nine month check up (yes, she's already nine months old!) last week puts her at 19 pounds 6 ounces and just over 27 inches in height. So that 75th percentile for weight (down from her 90-95 percentile) and 50th percentile for height. She cut three teeth in the past two weeks (te first two in two days with the third following less than a week after) with the fourth one (hopefully) out today. Fitting, seeing as its independence day. She's been "walking" around the house for almost a week-and-a-half now. She lets go of the couch or whoever or whatever she's got a hold of and starts taking her steps. They are becoming a lot more purposeful and steady so its only a matter of a little while more until she takes more than 6 steps before sitting down. She likes climbing on things. She's managed to stand from a sitting position (nothing around her to help her up) twice so far. She loves to dance and listen to music and watch other children. She was sleeping through the night until she started cutting teeth and then everything shot to hell again but well, she'll eventually get there again. She's eating gerber puffs and crackers and its so cute watching her feed herself - she's so serious and thoughtful while doing it. Hubby keeps reminding me that this is why we didn't get the expensive berber put in just yet - our poor carpet!

Anyway, back to work with me! I hope all of you have a great and safe holiday weekend!

carri

What a crazy couple of weeks it has been! I must admit, it was pretty strange seeing the store completely empty and void of any personality. I sat in the same spot on the floor as I did just over two years ago and looked around in wonder. I remember all the feelings of hope and possibility that I felt that time ago, and oddly enough, I still feel the same feelings now. I know that I will miss seeing all of you on a regular basis. Many of you have become friends and I have thoroughly enjoyed your company - even if it was just to play with Kira after she was born. Its been a crazy couple of years but I wouldn't trade it for anything! Many of you have stopped in to say bye, but please understand that we're not really going anywhere!

I've been saying that we're going about our business in a new way. I really have been torn between trying to be a good mommy, a good wife and a good business person. I have my priorities straightened out and I feel that although my family will always come first, I do have a responsibility to all of you so with that in mind, this is what we've come up with:

1. We will participate in as many craft and trade shows as possible throughout the year. Namely, Islandwide in May and November, Made in Hawaii in August and Diamond Head Arts & Crafts Show in November for starters.

2. We will work on putting on our own private shows at least twice a year starting next year. We may do one later this year, probably in September or October and another in December for all of you late shoppers. The September/October one will be somewhat interactive with product demonstrations and classes. Many of you have asked about our classes and were disappointed that I've had to stop having them due to a difficult pregnancy. These classes that we're thinking of will be similar to those that you've come to know and love and will include our wonderful pal - Teri!

3. We will work on putting together a "berry sweet" home party plan and procedure for anyone who's interested. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this concept, think of Tupperware or Stampin' Up! parties where an individual hosts the party and invites a bunch of friends. We do product demonstrations and talk story. Attendees are welcome to place orders which will be filled in a timely fashion. The host/hostess receives a thank you gift for their time and hospitality. It doesn't even have to be at someone's home; we've been asked to go to various offices during lunch hour to do the same thing. Its pretty neat but clear it with your boss first! We can even do classes for you, too!

4. We are in the process of updating our website. I've got the web monkey willing to turn our site into an e-commerce site but that probably won't get done until the summer. He has promised to update our website with product information as soon as I get the copy to him.

5. We will do a limited run of printed catalogs. I have found a potential printer and am in the process of working on copy and pictures for all of our products.

6. Weeding out our mailing list. I will be sending out a snail-mail postcard to EVERYONE on our mailing list. It will be asking for email addresses and a response if you're still interested in getting our show schedule postcards and printed catalog. Sorry, those that don't respond will be taken off our mailing list. I feel bad for killing trees and postage is starting to get out-of-hand, especially with a mailing list of our size!

So that's the plan for now. On to the rest of the updates!

Our store phone number has been transferred so if you need anything, please call the old store number and leave a message if I don't pick up! Don't be shy about placing orders thinking that you're bothering or inconveniencing me in some way - I really don't mind! As I've mentioned before, I don't mind driving out to drop off an order as long as its within reason. Otherwise, I'll pop it in the mail to you.

We will be at Waialae School on Saturday, April 19th for their Fun Day that happens only once every other year. We will be in the cafeteria in booth #2. The event runs from 9am to 2pm. Please come out and support this wonderful and innovative charter school!

We have confirmation that we will be at the Islandwide Spring Craft & Gift Expo at the NBC Exhibition Hall, May 2-4. The hours of the show are Friday the 2nd 5-10pm, Saturday the 3rd 10am-9pm and Sunday the 4th 10am-5pm. We will be in booth #316, which is near the waikiki entrance of the exhibition hall.

We have sent in our application to the Made in Hawai'i show for August. Information will be announced as soon as we have it.

I think that's it for now. Thank you to all of you for your words of support and understanding. Its been pretty crazy and in the process of closing the store, I've met many people who have been opening their doors to me and berry sweet bath & body. It's very true when they say when one door closes, another opens!

I hope to see you at the either the Waialae Fun Day this Saturday or during the first weekend in May! Take care!

carri

Okay, so here's what's going on with us at the current moment:

We are in the process of packing up our inventory, selling off our furniture and display items, including our crackseed jars, penny candy jars and so forth.

As of right now, we have 16 crackseed jars available and 18 penny candy jars. I have decided to let go 12 of our little lip balm jars. I had to hunt all over the country (literally, calling every Pier 1 shop between Hawai'i and New York) to find them so I'm more than a little hesitant to part ways with them. We also have a lot of galvanized buckets that are great for plants, gift baskets or whatever you can think of. I know that I'll be using at least 45 of them for Kira's first birthday party for centerpieces.

If any of you are shop owners or know of a shop owner, I have floating shelves for slat-panel walls that are absolutely fabulous and strong. I will include the appropriate number of brackets with each shelf. They are about 14 inches deep and I have either 4 or 6 foot lengths available. They hold a lot of weight and they were such a wonderful find!

ON SATURDAY, APRIL 5th, the store will be open between 10am to 3pm. We will still be in the process of packing up so pardon our mess but you are still more than welcome to come in and shop.

I still have the following in stock and available for sale at a discount:
Rubber Duckies at 50% off, the large rubber duckies are 75% off
Selected Berry Sweet Bath & Body products are 50% off
Tea Forte Tea Bags at 50% off
Warm Whiskers (microwave heated aromatherapy animals) at 75% off
Aquis - hair towels, washcloths and doggie towels at 30% off
Misc. bath accessories - loofah or sisal sponges, wooden salt scoops, loofah-on-a-stick, nylon puff-on-a-stick (excellent for the back and feet), etc., on sale at 50% off
Sassy Baby tub toys and accessories are on sale for 75% off
Botanicus Candles are on sale for 75% off
Assorted Galvanized buckets, sale price $2-$20 each depending on its size
Assorted wooden baskets (excellent for gift baskets or plants), sale price $2 to $15 depending on size
Assorted Bath Fizzies, Tub Tints, Bath Bombs and Bath Confetti at 50% off
I'm sure I'm missing some items so come in and check it out!

Items still in stock available for sale NOT at a discounted rate:
Travel Massage Bars in sweet lavender and eucalyptus spearmint
Shampoo Bars in 9 assorted fragrances
Mango Butter lip balms in 16 assorted flavors
Lip Scrubs in 6 assorted flavors
Car & Room Freshener Beads in 8 assorted fragrances
Boo Boo Balm in either the pot or tube version
Cuticle Balm in 3 fragrances
Rose Topiaries, 2 sizes and a multitude of colors

As for shows, it looks like we will be at the Islandwide Spring show the first weekend in May at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. I'll post up more once I find out what booth we'll be in.

We may be at the Waialae School Fun Day on April 19th as a crafter in the cafeteria. I'll post more on that when I figure things out.

If you have any questions or need further information, please feel free to call the store and leave a message.

Hope to see you soon!
carri

This is probably one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make and I think I'm making the best one for me and my family at this time. After months of thinking it over and agonizing over a course of action, we have decided to close the retail side of berry sweet bath & body.

A big part of me is sadden by my decision, however, I must acknowledge that motherhood has really taken me by surprise with exactly how much work and dedication is needed to raise a healthy and happy baby. In fact, I'm still a little shell-shocked by the magnitude of it all. I didn't think that my priorities would change much after Kira arrived but they really have. I really thought that she'd be able to slide into my life after she was born but, as all mothers already know and I've learned the hard way, its not like that - your life needs to bend around your child's. She just seems to need me and a routine more than I originally thought she would. But as I see it, putting a dream on hold for a couple of years to raise a happy, healthy, confident and secure child is a small price to pay.

Now, where does that leave all of you? I haven't forgotten to plan for all of you in this mayhem. As of right now, we are planning to continue on with craft shows (which is where most of you visit us, anyway) and wholesale. We are also planning our own private events to be held periodically in which our customers can come to a location and purchase items. And at these events, we are also planning to have some classes and demos, which many of you have asked about throughout the year. Of course, our favorite Stampin' Up! gal, Teri, will be there with her own additions to our projects - just to make things more interesting.

As of right now, we are planning to be at the Islandwide Spring Show in May, Made in Hawai'i in August, Season's Best in October, Diamond Head (KCC) and Islandwide Craft & Food Expo in November. As for our own events, we're thinking about July and definitely December for this year - especially for those of you who need those last minute items around the holidays. We will post more information about these events as we know more here on our blog and for those of you on our mailing list, we'll send out the usual postcards. If you have email, as soon as I figure out the mass e-mail thing, I'll start using that, too.

We are currently looking for other little boutiques to carry some of our more popular items, so you can still get them on a regular basis. We currently have boutiques Maui, Kauai, California and Japan that carry some of our items. In the meantime, we are looking at creating a product catalog to be updated quarterly as well as an online catalog that can be viewed on our website once the dust from closing settles. So basically, mail order will become much easier (flat rate priority mail boxes are our friends!) and if you're relatively close to town, deliveries or drop offs can be arranged. If you are interested in the print catalog, please email me your name, if you are already on our mailing list. If not, please email me with your name, address and verify your email address for me. The phone number will stay the same even after our closure so you can still get a hold of us via phone.

I'm also thinking about house and office parties that would be similar to tupperware parties. I could come to your home or office (as long as your boss is cool with it!) and show off some of our products to you and your friends/colleagues. The orders would be delivered within a week or two after. Still in the process of trying to put it together in my head but if you're interested, please let me know so I think a little faster!

With the retail store closing, it will give me a chance to focus on the items that are unique to us and all of you love so much. Trim the fat, they say. I really think this is the best way and we'll look at doing a retail store again when Kira is a little older. I would say to keep checking here and on our actual website for updates as to what products we're keeping and what we're doing away with. If you have any products that you absolutely love, now would be the time to say so!

So with all of the above said, its time for a "fire" sale. Most of our stock will be at 25-50% off for this coming week. Most of our store fixtures will be available for sale, just talk to me about making arrangements for after the store closes. All of our beautiful shelving and floating shelves need to go (I have no place to store them). We will also be selling most our penny candy jars, "crackseed" jars, and display props, too.

As of right now, Tea Forte, Warm Whiskers, Cocoa Room, and rubber duckies are 50% off. The rest will be determined when I get back into the store on Tuesday. I would strongly suggest coming in and stocking up on some of your favorite items. Our next show is in May. Secretary's Day ( aka Administrative Assistant's Day) is coming up next month. May is Mother's Day, Graduations, and end of school in which many of you purchase little gift items for your children's teachers. Some of you also purchase little items for your children's friends at the end of school, too. Just some gift-giving occasions that are coming up that we won't be open for.

Anyway, I can't believe we're going into our last week of being open. This was such a hard decision to make in such a short period of time but I think its the right one for me and my family. I am so incredibly grateful to all of you who have stood by us the past couple of years. I really hope that you'll continue to think of us from time to time as I'll be thinking of all of you. This really isn't a goodbye, but hopefully, a way to make things work out for all of our benefit. Call it the "Kira Re-Structuring." Who knows? Maybe I'll get around to making jewelry again, too!

I hope to see most of you this coming week. If not, then hopefully at a future show. In the meantime, if you desperately need something between the closing of the store and the next show, feel free to call or email and I'll do my best to get it to you.

Thank you again for all of your aloha and support!
carri